The Last Reaper War
by Longsword Hero
Summary: The Reapers have been annihilating the Citadels armies and fleets one battle after another. The Reapers are thought to be invincible and that no force can stand against them. But what happens when they encounter a new race? One whose resolve and strength outweighs anything they have faced before. One who will not settle to drive them out but destroy them.
1. Battle for Sanctum

**The last Reaper War**

Disclaimer I don't own Halo or Mass Effect both belong to their perspective owners.

**To be honest I love Halo but am admittedly not a fan of Mass Effect. I only chose to wright this because I need to give an example of how one sided a battle between these universes would be. However all the outcomes and events in this story are based on the facts of these factions. This is also a reworking and an upgrade from my first attempt at this story.**

**Location: planet Sanctum UNSC battle cluster.**

**Date: July 5****th**** 2552**

In high orbit above planet Sanctum, deep within the star system Crest lies the Alpha 5 research station. Its purpose was one that could single-handedly change the course of the human covenant war as it was constructed specifically to study and reverse engineer Covenant technology namely shielding, slip space, and most importantly their plasma weapons. The station was of the utmost importance to the war effort and to protect this investment the Navy deployed thirty ships to the planet as well as four orbital defense stations equipped with the super heavy Mark V MAC gun. The Army also kept a sizable force planet side in the scenario of a covenant attack. In charge of military defenses was rear Adm. Eugene Riker with Dr. Marcus Hansen leading the research efforts. Riker was a 54 year old spit shine officer with buzzed gray hair, brown eyes, and surprisingly smooth skin for a man of his age, however that was most likely a result of the extended cryogenic sleep as his physical age was roughly in the early 40s. Dr. Hansen on the other hand was in his late 20s with middle-length brown hair and tan skin.

On board the orbital defense station _Overlord_, Adm. Riker and Dr. Hansen would meet with head scientists as well as high ranking officers of the Army and Navy to discuss the planet's affairs and progress of their activities. This was a regular event to keep HIGHCOM informed and potently give ONI some propaganda to throw at the public as they have been quite successful in convincing the populace that the war was going well ever sense it began. The meeting room was highly decorated with portraits of human soldiers and ships valiantly engaging the covenant. The room itself was rectangular with a large metal table in the middle with a data pad in front of each seat as well as bottles of water and a pot of coffee. At the end of the room was a gray metal shield with two BR55 battle rifles crossed behind it symbolizing the ranking personal that usually occupied this briefing room. There were a little over a dozen people with military personnel sitting on one side and scientist to the other. Riker open the discussions with. "Well Dr. Hansen how is your progress on the research efforts?"

Dr. Hansen fettled with his data pad and began to speak. "We're making strives. We can expect to begin testing new slip space drives on all our ships within the next 3 to 4 years. Retrofitting Covenant plasma shield technology is a bit trickier of a matter and as of now we don't know how long it might take. But our most promising research has come from the Covenant plasma explosives. We are not yet capable of replicating the plasma torpedoes that have been used against us in the past, however we can modify our archer missiles with plasma warheads which we predict will have the same damage output as the original plasma torpedoes."

That last part caught the officers off guard and had the naval personnel jaw dropped. One ship captain named Nelson Wallace leaned forward and looked directly at Dr. Hansen. spoke with the voice of a young optimistic fellow. "Are you telling us that after 26 years of war with these bastards we can finally fight them on equal terms in space?"

Dr. Hansen simply replied. "There is still more development to be made but we have prototypes in production and once they're ready for the field, than we can start taking the fight to the covenant worlds."

It was no secret that the UNSC excelled in their knowledge of battlefield tactics and ability to innovate. The only problem was the difference in technology. If the UNSC could fight the Covenant with weapons and equipment that could match their own than this war would not have seen the death of billions of human lives.

Immediately everyone in the room began to smile and nod at one another. Many of the military personnel weren't quite sure why this planet was so important at first but after seeing what the scientists had achieved, it was obvious this world must be held and protected at all costs. The meeting went on for several more hours and by the time it ended everyone left feeling high-the spirited seeing as this was the first time in so long anything has went the humans way.

**July 12****th**** 2552**

High above planet sanctum the UNSC heavy destroyer _Ace of Spades_ was preparing for a test fire of the new plasma missiles. The weapons would be fired at a decommissioned colony ship that was roughly the size of the covenant cruiser. The ship in question was the _Bounty of Harvest_ once used to transfer cargo and supplies between planets but was retired after an engine failure nearly killed 20 of her crew. The ship was deemed redundant and was kept in storage for scrap however its hall and armor were remarkably intact and well preserved thus making it perfect for this test firing. The missiles used for the test were ordinary archers in most ways the only difference being instead of a high explosive or armor piercing warhead there was a superheated plasma charge similar to Covenant grenades which in fact is what the explosive is based off of. Wallace looked around the bridge crew with Adm. Riker and Dr. Hansen present. "Okay is everyone ready for test firing?"

The bridge crew responded with all systems reading green and Capt. Wallace ordered the first shot. "Fire plasma missile one onto the target."

From the bridge of the _Ace of Spades_ the first missile flared through space towards the other ship with an impressive speed. The suspense was almost too much for some for the crew as Wallace was tapping his foot rapidly hoping this was going to mark the beginning of a turning point in the fight against the Covenant. The missile hit the port side of the bounty which let out a bright blue puff. When the vapor clouds cleared there was a large deep hole where the missile had struck with the metal at the edges of the hole bent inward and glowing bright orange. As soon as this became visible the entire bridge crew including Wallace, and Hansen erupted in cheers and roars. The Adm. held out his hands to calm down the crew. "All right people we still have a test to complete"

The next part of the test commenced with six plasma missiles being fired into another undamaged part of the port side of the bounties hull. By the end of the test the entire ship had been melted by a total of 40 missiles which left everyone observing in absolute astonishment and the test concluded with Adm. Riker saying in an upbeat voice. "Now we can finally go on the offensive and drive those bastards out of our homes."

**July 21****st**** 2552**

Sanctum was a peculiar planet for such an important research station to be conducting its operations. Sanctum itself was earthlike in many features. From orbit it appeared as if the whole planet was one large landmass with hundreds of massive rivers running through it like large bright blue veins with only seven large isolated oceans. There were also dozens of orbital elevators leading up to various space stations with Sanctum's four SMAC stations in a square formation around the planet. Most of the North Eastern Hemisphere consisted of deserts and grassy plains as it had the fewest of these numerous rivers running through it. However the barren terrain made it incredibly suitable for industrial facilities, testing sites, and training areas. The Western Hemisphere was largely a mix of open fields, lush forests, and mountain ranges. These were common terrain features in both the North and South of the West but the South East Hemisphere was primarily dominated by the largest of the oceans with several islands dotting the center of it. One would think that a facility committed to the research of reverse engineered alien technology would be placed in an asteroid field or on a planet more suited to its purpose such as the Damascus Materials testing facility on planet Chi Ceti 4. Its purpose was to research and develop new advanced armor for the UNSC. The planet Chi Ceti 4 was largely uninhabitable as it was basically a highly volcanic rock.

Wallace was in his personal quarters looking over the rearmament reports from the Adm., it had read. _As of July 21__st__ 2552 all UNSC warships and orbital defense stations have been rearmed with the new plasma missiles. Our best analysts and A.I.s have been looking over the potential of these new weapons and predict that including all other factors, we can now bring the odds of space battles up from 3 to 1 to an even fight. We have already dispatched a convoy of military and cargo ships to bring these new weapons back to Earth and to ensure that all our naval forces may benefit from this new development. With our current slip space drives it should take 7 days for the ship to reach Earth. Along with the new weapons we also sent a request for reinforcements to ensure this planets further protection and prosperity._

Wallace took a sip of his coffee and looked over the bridge crew assigned to the ship from a data pad. As he was going about his business the ships tactical officer called the captain from outside his quarters. "Capt. Wallace this is Lieut. Lee, we need you on the bridge."

Wallace looked to the bulkhead door as if expecting him to burst through. "What's the situation?"

"We've been picking up slip space whispers within system and Adm. Riker has ordered all forces to prepare for the worst"

Wallace immediately recognizes the potential danger of the situation as he swiftly swallows his remaining coffee and moved through the door to meet up with Lee and head to the bridge. Lee was an Asian man of average height with jet black heir, which was interesting enough as Wallace was just looking over his profile records and discovered that he was of Korean descent, born on Reach, and was awarded several medals for his ability to spot out flaws in covenant ship formations helping improve the odds in space. Moving through the ship was like navigating a beehive as Marines and naval crew were scrambling to report to their immediate positions. By the time Wallace had gotten to the bridge the Adm. was already addressing the fleet. "All UNSC forces in the crest system this is a priority one alert. Our probes have discovered the signatures of what appears to be covenant slip space drives. This is not a drill! I repeat this is not a drill! All naval forces report to rally point Sanctum battle cluster."

While all 30 naval ships were already taking formation within the battle cluster the recall was more directed to the monitoring stations and other various outposts in system. Within minutes the civilian evacuation began. It was quite the situation as Sanctum was the only planet in the Crest system that was actually colonized. However the planet was home to over 800 million people so a full-scale evacuation was going to be tricky and to make matters worse the Covenant could drop in at any time with a force most likely large enough to glass everything in the system. But despite this it was their directive to defend this planet no matter the cost and that is exactly what the UNSC was going to do.

Before long the humans were as prepared as they could be with all their ships and defense stations aimed barrel forward against where the Covenant were predicted to attack from. The ships in orbit were tightly clustered together in a firing line with the orbital guns on the edges. Their ace in the hole were the old decommissioned ships in the orbital scrapyard. Not too long ago a tactic was developed to use old or nonessential ships as shields against the covenant plasma weapons thus giving human ships more time to fire and saving lives. They only had one cradle station for the maintenance and rearmament of ships which was deemed too important to the planets continued defense to use as a shield. The space in front of the battle cluster was littered with old ships placed strategically so the fleet could shoot through them. The ships being used as sacrificial shields were equipped with retro thrusters so that when they were needed they could be moved to protect the still functioning vessels.

Off in the distance away from the planet just where they suspected massive blue rings appeared with solid black in the middle with ships moving through. It was a Covenant force exiting slip space. Just then the _Ace of Spades_ shipboard AI appeared on a projector right next to the tactical display. The AI's name was Joan as in Joan of Arc which was the aesthetic form she took. She wore the platemail armor of a French knight with a medieval longsword hanging off the side. She looked to Wallace and spoke with the accent of a French maiden. "Sir there are 38 enemy vessels just outside our weapons range. 2 super carrier, 3 destroyers, 17 cruisers, and 16 corvettes."

Both fleets had gathered up to each other weapons loaded and ready to fight. For a moment though it would seem as if time had stopped and nobody wanted to make the first move however as history would have it the Covenant moved first. Wallace looked over to the 3-D display of the battle projection. On-screen surrounding the planet were green rings indicating the human's weapons range as the Covenant were slowly creeping towards it. As they were drawing near Riker got on the horn. "All ships the enemy will be entering weapons range in 30 seconds. Keep your guns hot but hold the plasma missiles on standby until my mark."

The seconds counted down slowly but as soon as they were within range all 30 UNSC ships and the four orbital defense stations opened fire. Dozens of bright lights streaked through space as if Zeus were striking his enemies from Olympus. Before these weapons could hit their targets the Covenant returned fire and the rounds crisscrossed with the enemy plasma torpedoes. The first volley crashed into the forward sections of the covenant ships causing some to lose course and start crashing into other ships. The UNSC fleet prepared for another volley fire as the torpedoes drew closer.

On _Ace of Spades_ bridge Capt. Wallace was getting nervous. He knew with or without the new weapons this was going to be a close match so he looked to Joan as if he expected her to know something that would make them feel better. "How long until impact"

Joan crossed her arms. "57 seconds."

The UNSC ships took another volley fire. Wallace could feel the twin heavy guns firing at once as he watched the ordinance find its target. The Covenant plasma torpedoes were just about to strike when the retro rockets on board the decommissioned ships kicked in and for the first time in a long time they moved on their own. The AI working directly under Adm. Riker was controlling them and it had perfectly timed the event. The floating hunks of debris were moved in position in front of the UNSC ships and acting as shields the plasma torpedoes could only explode upon the lifeless already dead ships.

As the Covenant fleet drew closer Riker got back on the horn. "I believe it's time we showed the enemy our new weapon. All ships break formation and attack!"

Without anything else to use as physical shields the best chance for individual human ships to survive was in maneuvering quickly. Some of the bigger ships had spearheaded a charge directly through the center of the enemy naval formation while some of the other ships had arched around this new formation to attempt to hit the Covenant from the flanks. There were a total of 17 Covenant ships remaining and they lost their super carriers. However as in all battles fought with them they stayed on course and were willing to fight to the death.

Wallace decided to use his ship to flank the enemy from the top. The UNSC and Covenant fleets seem to collide like two armies of medieval cavalry. Some ships had crashed into each other destroying both in the process while most flew past firing everything they had. Missiles and plasma torpedoes crisscrossed as the situation became less of two firing lines and one massive of ships and explosions. A human cruiser crashed directly into a Covenant destroyer and detonated all of its nuclear ordinance obliterating both ships. The _Ace of Spades _was directly over an enemy cruiser occupying itself with taking shots at another ship. Wallace knew this was the time to strike.

"Joan, get me a firing solution on the center of that ship."

Joan had already ran the calculations twice. "Already done sir."

He then looked over to warrant officer Greenway on the weapons station. "Fire missile pods A through D"

"Right away sir." Greenway responded.

40 missiles rained down on the Covenant cruiser with impressive speed and force. The first few missiles exploded just off the armor, superheated plasma splashed against its shields which quickly turned bright silver and dissipated entirely. The next two dozen missiles hit the top of the center of the ship melting away much of its interior. "Fire pods E and F!" Wallace barked.

Another two dozen missiles poured into the already crippled ship. The armor had been so decimated by the new weapons the enemy ship had split in half along where they struck. Small explosions rippled throughout the cruiser's severed front half as the rear end was releasing all of its coolant and erupted in a massive blue and white explosion.

As Capt. Wallace and the _Ace of Spades _dived in to join the larger battle it soon became apparent that the Covenant were outmatched in this fight. It seemed that the other ships had been much less restrictive with their usage of the plasma missiles as most of the wreckage could barely be identified as Covenant ships. They were just massive conglomerates of the melted metal.

The _Ace of Spades _had flown past Covenant ships that were so mutilated they appeared as if they had been boiled in a star. Wallace's ship had reached the edge of the debris field only to find 4 Covenant ships face to face with a fleet of over 20 UNSC ships. The exchange of missile and plasma continued as before but the overwhelming firepower and number of ships was simply too much and the last enclave on Covenant ships soon met the same fate as the rest of their fleet.

The whole crew was silent for a moment with the only noise coming from the combat alarm until once again Admiral Riker came on to address the fleet. There was pride and strength in his voice. "Today is only the first in many victories. We have shown the Covenant humanities resolves and this is where the war turns in our favor. All ships return to Sanctum for repairs and refit. Good work everyone, Riker out. "

The reality of the situation had just hit the crew like a train that victory was theirs and the Covenant were defeated. Everyone on the bridge had begun the roar and cheer in celebration. Wallace looked over to Joan with a calm, relaxed expression and a smile on his face. "Plot a course home"


	2. Humanities Comeback

**(Iv noticed everyone telling me that it was ****their**** shield technology that gave the 3:1 Covenant the advantage in space and you are correct but as you know their shield technology is incredibly susceptible to superheated plasma. So these plasma missiles in which the UNSC now have access to detonate with the same damage output as a covenant plasma torpedo except much like their archers the UNSC ships can fire off a hundred of them in seconds whereas Covenant ships have a comparatively slow recharge time. So with these new weapons but no shields it is an even battle because both ships would be mutually capable destroying the other)**

The new weapons were just enough to turn the tide. The battle of Sanctum has been christened the UNSC's greatest strategic victory of the war. The new development in technology came just in time as two months after the Navy upgraded all existing ships with the new plasma missiles the Covenant attacked planet Reach. Fully utilizing these weapons and new tactics in space the UNSC Navy was able to repel the attacking Covenant fleet despite heavy casualties on both sides. With Reach held new warships could continue to be constructed and naval losses replaced. The slip space coordinates decoded by Dr. Halsey after the battle were then used by the _Pillar of Autumn_ to investigate what could hopefully be another development in the human's favor. Taking no chances the UNSC sent a battle group of six ships including _the Pillar of Autumn_ under the command of Capt. Jacob Keyes. There was also the Heavy Destroyer _Ace of Spades, _three light frigates, and a Phoenix class ground support ship. The _Autumn_ was armed with a new experimental weapon powerful enough to destroy a planet called the Nova bomb. Not only was this battlegroup a force to be reckoned with in space but also carried a large ground force. 6000 combat ready Marines as well as Spartan Blue team including the Master Chief himself were prepared for anything the Covenant could throw at them.

Nobody could have guessed as to what they would find on the other side of this slip space jump. They had found Halo. However it soon became apparent that the Covenant had found it first. Sources believe that the Covenant were able to copy and decrypt the original data during their occupation of Cote D'Azur which led them to discovering the ring world only a few days prior to the humans. The Covenant presence was limited to a survey force that was too busy with their business on the ring world to immediately notice the human ships approaching. The UNSC vessels rushed the scattered Covenant force and caught them off guard. In desperation they deployed hundreds of Spirits, Phantoms, Banshees, and drop pods to the ring world below in an attempt to establish a strong ground force.

After a failed attempt to regroup the Covenant ships were quickly destroyed and one captured operational with 3 of its Huragok rescued alive. The space around the ring was secured at the cost of one frigate. Following this victory UNSC and Covenant ground forces clashed on the large-scale of Halo's surface. With support from orbit to destroy Covenant heavy weapons such as the scarab these battles always ended in a human victory. Following these victories, from the depths of installation 04 emerged the flood. The flood soon began attacking and infecting both human and Covenant forces alike. While large-scale evacuations of UNSC ground forces began small groups stayed behind to continue on missions such as investigating the purpose of Halo. Eventually Spartan John 117 and the rest of blue team would encounter 343 Guilty Spark's. After securing the activation index from the library blue team would return to the control room only to discover Halo's true purpose. Realizing the destructive power of the ring blue team returns to the battle group to inform Capt. Keyes of what has transpired.

Knowing that it was only a matter of time before Covenant reinforcements arrived Keyes knew he could not take the risk of them being able to activate the Halo. He ordered the Nova be used on the ring to ensure its destruction and that no one could use it to wipe out all life in the galaxy.

Upon returning to Earth with a captured enemy Corvette Keyes and his task force were given the hero's welcome. Work on reverse engineering the technology from the captured ship began immediately. With a mostly functional ship to study firsthand and the assistance of the liberated Huragok, improved versions of Covenant shield and slip space technology were integrated onto every ship in the UNSC within three weeks thus bringing the odds of space battles up 3:1 in the UNSC's advantage. The humans also soon began using the existing Huragok to create new ones and establish a colony. The hope was to have one of these biological supercomputers on every ship within 3 to 4 years.

While these innovations renewed the humans fighting spirit. It did come at a cost. The Covenant found Earth. Monitoring stations had detected slip space whispers that matched those used by Covenant ships. UNSC HIGHCOM knew full well this was going to become the battle that keep humanity fighting or end their resistance. Either way the Covenant were in for a fight. Planet Earth was well defended by the orbital defense grid consisting of 300 SMAC platforms supporting a home fleet of over 500 warships and ground forces numbering in the millions.

13 Covenant ships exited the slip space void not expecting such an armada. Both fleets faced off each other just outside weapons range almost as if the Covenant were hesitant to attack. But as history would repeat itself they charged. The 13 Covenant ships charged the defensive line using their cruisers and smaller ships as a shield for the carriers. Only one carrier was able to break through to reach Earth's surface relatively unscathed while the other 12 ships were completely destroyed by the defensive fleet and the orbital guns.

The super carrier that had avoided its own destruction landed in the East African mega-city of New Mombasa. Almost immediately Elites, Brutes, Jackals, grunts, and hunters began pouring into the city from their flagship attacking civilians on sight. After discovering the Prophet of Regret was present aboard the very same ship trapped in Earth's atmosphere the UNSC made his capture priority one. Marines were deployed immediately to the city and swiftly began driving the covenant into an enclave beneath the carrier. As the humans were about to make one final assault to end the battle and capture the ship it prepared to jump to slip space. With Spartan blue team aboard the frigate _In Amber clad _Commander Miranda Keyes ordered her ship to pursue.

The battle for Earth would rage on with Covenant forces pouring in more and more ships in a desperate attempt to break the defense grid but Human forces refused to yield. After sustaining tremendous losses the Covenant saw no other way but to make one final forced charge. Two thirds of their entire Navy was committed to this assault. Using the same tactics they had to breach the orbital barrier the first time the Covenant were able to push dozens of ships in atmosphere where they took a defensive position outside the damaged city of New Mombasa and began excavating the relic hidden deep beneath the surface.

These actions would not go unnoticed as the excavation fleet would find itself under constant air and ground attack from UNSC Army, Marine, and Naval forces.

Meanwhile Commander Keyes had followed Regret's ship to Delta Halo. Upon arrival both factions began deploying ground forces to carry out their agendas regarding the ring world. Spartan blue team was the first to deploy in support of ODST first platoon followed after by additional ground forces. After fighting their way through Covenant forces blue team and supporting Marines had reached the Citadel where the Prophet of Regret and his honor guard made their final stand completely unaware that the entire Covenant Navy that wasn't committed to the assault on Earth had just arrived. Within minutes of breaching the structure Regret met his end from a clean headshot fired by the Master Chief's BR55 battle rifle.

Upon exiting the Citadel the surviving humans discovered a massive Covenant ship preparing to destroy everything in the area. Both the Spartans and Marines jumped over the side of the platform holding the Citadel overwater in an attempt to reach safety. The Marines who didn't die in the jump or after the bombardment were captured and brought to POW camps on the ring. The Spartans however were captured by a very different foe. The Gravemind.

Blue team was not the only prisoner of this being as it had also captured Thel Vadam. More formally known as the Arbiter. After revealing the truth behind Halo and the Forerunners the Gravemind used the ring world's teleporters to send Blue team to the holy city of High Charity to eliminate the remaining Covenant leadership and the Arbiter to a location near the control room to stop Halo's activation.

In the city of High Charity blue team found themselves chasing the two surviving prophets throughout the station supported by a dozen rescued Marines. Eventually after fighting their way through hordes of Covenant loyalist as well as separatist forces the _In Amber Clad _had entered the station through a slip space jump carrying with it an army of flood. Now combating an enemy even more deadly than the Covenant the surviving humans hurried to find the Prophet. However when they arrived all they found was a flood infection form about to kill one of the San'Shyuum they had fought so hard to do the job themselves. As blue team, Cortana, and surviving Marines weighed their options they decided that Cortana would stay behind to detonate the reactors on board _In Amber Clad _in case they Halo was activated while the Spartans and Marines would search for a way to stop Truth and get back to Earth.

Upon moving through the waves of flood a crashed UNSC pelican dropship was cleared out and found in working order. The four surviving Marines use the dropship to escape the station and locate friendly forces while the Spartans stowed away on the Forerunner ship Truth was using to spearhead this fleet.

The Arbiter had found himself in a mountainous area near Delta Halo's control room. While he and other separatist forces battled their way through the forerunner structures and even rescuing the Sangheili high Council members they encountered humans being held captive by brutes. In the confusion of battle the Marines had stolen enemy weapons including a scarab tank and began fighting alongside the elites.

With the combined forces of the surviving humans in a scarab and separatist air forces the covenant loyalists guarding the outside of the control room were completely overpower. The pelican dropship that had escaped the flood on High Charity located the human IFF's and began to provide support. After rendezvousing outside the control room's doors it was decided that UNSC marines and separatist Sangheili would work together to stop the chieftain Tartarus from activating the rings. After successfully stopping Halo's activation and securing the index 343 guilty spark's elaborates that all other Halos have entered a standby mode in the only place where they can be fired or deactivated is the Ark.

Upon their return to Earth Keyes, Johnson, and other human survivors would rejoin the battle to save their species home world. Shortly after their return the forerunner ship Truth used to escape High Charity would also find its way to Earth carrying with it Spartan blue team. After being reunited with UNSC forces Spartan teams Blue, Red, Gold, Noble, Chariot, Predator, and Slingshot would aid Marine and Army ground forces to enact Commander Keyes plan to wipe out the remaining Covenant forces on earth.

Just as defeat seemed imminent for the Covenant loyalist, Truth activated the relic on Earth opening a massive portal leading directly to the Ark. With no time to waste the UNSC and Covenant separatists gathered the bulk of their military strength for one final battle. Sending through hundreds of ships this new alliance would find themselves in a location outside the Milky Way galaxy. After breaking through Covenant defenses in space ground forces began mass deployment to the surface.

Within hours the last of Truths forces fell back to an enclave at a location referred to as the Citadel. Just as an assault on this site was about to commence a slip space rupture opened carrying the flood infested city of High Charity. Outnumbered and outgunned the once mighty Prophet of Truth met his end at the hands of the warrior he had made an Arbiter.

The arrival of the flood had forced the UNSC and Covenant separatists to once again withdraw all major ground forces back to space leaving only capable spec ops groups. Seeing this as their best chance to retrieve the AI Cortana the members of Spartan blue team using commandeered banshees infiltrated the crashed city station in search of her.

After fighting their way through hordes of flood infected Covenant and even what was once the crew of the _In Amber Clad _they had succeeded in finding Cortana. Knowing that High Charity's destruction was their best chance to delay the flood from spreading blue team destroyed the nearby reactors causing the power system of the city to become unstable. After barely escaping with the Arbiter on a recovered pelican dropship a plan was conceived to use installation 4B to exterminate all the flood on the ark.

The dropship crashed a short walk away from the control room. Sgt. Johnson had landed the frigate _forward unto Dawn_ quite a distance away but within reach for extraction. Battling the flood every step of the way the Arbiter and Spartan blue team would reach Halo's control room where they would be betrayed by 343 Guilty Sparks for attempting to activate the ring prematurely. However he would be quickly destroyed by the Master Chief.

With the ring set to activate two pelican dropships quickly picked up the group with Thell and John in one and Fred, Linda, and Kelly in the other. On their way back the pelicans began taking fire from both the ring's sentinels and flood armed with covenant weapons. The Chiefs pelican was shot down halfway to its destination with its only survivors being himself, the Arbiter, and two Marines. Luckily the warthog in tow had survived the crash and the four piled in with the chief driving, the arbiter had shotgun, one of the Marines had the chain gun, and the other strapped himself in with his back to the chief's seat.

Chief drove their way through what felt like an obstacle course of unfinished artificial landscaping with the other pelican providing cover fire. The surface panels that had connected the hangar of the Dawn to what was supposed to be ground had collapsed leaving the warthog's crew one chance to make it on board. Driving at full speed chief ramped off the panels crashing into the hangar bay. The Marine on turret had suffered a broken arm but nothing critical. While the arbiter made his way to the bridge, the other Marine helped his friend to the med bay. Chief stayed in the hangar to plug Cortana's chip into the ship so she could take over.

Upon seeing _forward unto Dawn_ ascending through the atmosphere the dropship made its way inside. They were the last ship at the ark the as rest had returned through the portal knowing already that the mission was accomplished.

On Earth the front half of _forward onto Dawn_ had splashdown carrying a surviving crew of Thell Vadam, Spartans Fred, Kelly, and Linda, and two dozen Marines including Sgt. Avery Johnson and Commander Maranda Keyes. The Master Chief and Cortana's chip were last seen in the hangar bay which had been severed by the collapse of the portal.

Notable UNSC losses during the battle of Earth and the Ark include.

67 Spartan III super solders. KIA.

72 war ships lost.

500,000 military. KIA.

1,500,000 civilians. KIA.

Catherine-B320. KIA. Killed by a Brute Chieftain during an infiltration of a Covenant base on installation 00. Kat received massive trauma to her vital organs after being struck by a gravity hammer. Her body was recovered by Noble team for a military funeral on Reach.

Jorge-052. KIA. After being critically wounded by flood combat forms while assisting the evacuation of Marines in Voi. Jorge was transported onto a dropship by the men he saved sparing him the fate of infection. He died of his injuries moments later. His body was returned to planet Reach for a military funeral.

Isaac-039. KIA. Killed and infected by flood infection forms in Voi. The combat form that was once Spartan Isaac-039 was killed and identified by a group of UNSC soldiers after he had attacked their defensive position. His body is presumed to be completely incinerated during the glassing of Voi.

William-043. KIA. Died in space over installation 00 when his pelican dropship was destroyed by Covenant Seraph fighters. His body was never recovered and presumed to be destroyed by the activation of installation 04B.

Grace-093. KIA. 30 minutes after being sent on a mission to board and destroy a Covenant cruiser from within the ship exploded in the skies above New Mombasa. The explosion occurred in the engine area where she had instructions to plant her charges leading to the presumption that Spartan Grace-093 was unable to exfiltrate from the enemy ship and decreed it better to destroy the target with her. Her body was eventually recovered and given a military funeral on Reach.

John-117. MIA. After activating the ring the Master Chief was presumed lost. We currently have no leads as to his exact location.

Covenant losses are as fallowed.

3,000,000 military. KIA.

600 war ships lost.

Political/Religious leadership. KIA.

**Location: In slip space en route to planet Novus.**

**Date: March 12****th**** 2556**

4 years after the battle of Sanctum Capt. Wallace finds himself in his ship's quarters recalling the last few years that had changed everything. He had seen so much during the Human-Covenant war. All the battles fought, the discoveries made, the enemies vanquished. Nelson Wallace had joined the Navy to explore the universe and uncovered its secrets. Only to find that most of its secrets could kill him in more ways than he could count. This didn't matter to him. He was an explorer at heart with more optimism than most people can imagine possible for a man to have. This desire for peaceful exploration however never interfered with the reality of his career. Nelson stood up and walked over to a display of his military awards. The Colonial Cross and Medal of Valor were his prize awards with several lesser metals below them. He took pride in these accomplishments as they recognized his service and conviction to humanity.

The _Ace of Spades _wasn't on a special mission or some kind of top-secret assignment. It was simply a routine patrol. For years Sanctum was the only planet colonized in the system for the purpose of not attracting unusually large or little attention. However with the end of the war the Crest system became much more open for travel and colonization. Including Sanctum, three of Crest's nine planets were already habitable and beginning to see small numbers of homesteaders making a life for themselves.

The planet his ship and crew were heading to was called Novus. It was scarcely colonized by civilian settlers and only had one sizable city plus an Army base. There really was no major concern for it. However in the past and even today it has been known for insurrectionists to set up hidden bases on lightly populated worlds. These bases could serve a number of purposes from bomb making to training areas. Hence _Ace of Spade_'s mission.

Wallace had never fought other humans in an actual combat scenario. He wasn't old enough to have seen the fight against the rebels firsthand before their war with the Covenant started. The very idea of humans fighting other humans seemed almost unreal. Having lived most of his life at war with an alien empire he could only think of the enemy being something else. It also made him wonder if there is any intelligent life in the universe that isn't looking for a fight.

His train of thought was interrupted when Joan contacted him on his earpiece. "Capt. your presence is requested on the bridge. We're about to exit slip space."

Wallace straightened his uniform and walked towards the door. "Thank you Joan I will be there shortly."

By the time he had made it to the bridge they were already about to reenter real space. Wallace looked to his second-in-command. The recently promoted lieutenant commander Rioichi Lee. "What's our status?"

"All systems green and ready Captain."

Moments later the _Ace of Spades_ exited slip space. From the view of the bridge you got quite a sight. The planet was estimated to be about 70% water and 30% land. Most of the land on Novus was green and fertile rendering it perfect for agriculture. This made it easy to assume that it would develop into a garden world. Two of its three moons were visible from the ship's position. The first was orbiting the planet closely from its Northern continents. The second was probably hiding behind the planet. The third moon orbited barely within the planet's gravity well. It was still within sight of the bridge but could barely be spotted by the naked eye.

"Well let's begin routine….."

The Captain was interrupted when the third moon suddenly began to crack and shake as if it was about to explode. Joanne noticed this and pulled up a closer visual on the main screen. "What the hell?"

Was all Wallace had time to say before the moon shattered leaving behind an oddly shaped construction. It looked almost like a massive railgun with a glowing blue core.

Joan was the first to break the silence. "Captain I'm detecting massive energy fluctuations coming from that object. It's like nothing ever seen before"

Wallace retorted. "It has to be Forerunner."

Even Jones avatar looks confused in her French knight armor. "I'm not sure. It doesn't match any known architectural patterns. I think this is something else."

"All right this mission just became a lot more complex. Set course for that object and let's find out what it is."

"Captain wait! I'm picking up contacts. Lots and lots of contacts."

As she said that in real time hundreds of lights flickered into existence around the object. Hundreds soon became thousands with no sign of relent as more and more kept appearing. A closer inspection revealed these lights to be ships as if they were using the object as a means of transport.

One of the junior lieutenants looked to the Captain waiting for an order. "sir?"

Wallace stared blankly at the phenomenon. "We have a job to do people. Let's make contact."


	3. New Contact

**Location: UNSC destroyer **_**Ace of Spades**_ **en route to unknown fleet.**

**Date: March 12****th**** 2556**

The _Ace of Spades _was a powerful ship. Twin Mk V MAC guns, reverse engineered defensive shields, a complement of the new broadsword single ship fighters, a small nuclear arsenal, and enough missile pods to level a city. If these mystery ships did turn out to be hostile they would have a hell of a fight on their hands. Using sub light engines it would take 15 minutes to reach the object and the fleet emerging from it. Since the end of the war the UNSC began planning for multiple different contacts scenarios. It's always been known that the Covenant would try to destroy any species that didn't join them. Even still despite their incredible technology destroying a species entirely was just something even they were not truly capable of. Even if they had succeeded in glassing Earth and rendering the UNSC powerless. Humanity would've survived. There were hundreds of uncharted settlements across known space with potentially tens of thousands of people living off the grid. It's highly possible that other who races once defied the Covenant have survived like this. Or they were able to fight them off altogether. Despite great cost the UNSC was able to. But in the event that one of these civilizations was to make contact certain protocols would be engaged.

Wallace began giving orders keeping everyone busy all the while he never took is gaze off the site in front of him. "Joan scan everything that's happening out there. I want as much information as possible. Try to identify a possible command ship. Also prepare a language translation package."

Jones avatar crossed her arms and smirked at him "The package has been triple checked and sent."

"Lieut. Clark, contact Sanctum and inform Adm. Riker of what's going on."

"Eye sir."

The ship continued on course for what felt like an eternity as more and more unknown vessels continued to enter the system via the mysterious object. Joan once again appeared on the ships projector. "Captain I have Adm. Riker on the horn for you."

Wallace gave her a nod of appreciation and tapped his earpiece. "Capt. Wallace here."

"Capt. Wallace this is a very delicate situation we're in and it can't go wrong. I sent a request to Earth calling for reinforcements and political assistance. However we cannot allow them to scatter across the system and start claiming our territory as their own. Until I arrive I'm counting on you to show these newcomers who they're dealing with."

The young captain was just given the authority to act as an ambassador representing is race. Now the pressure was on to make a good impression to both these aliens and his superiors. "I will sir, you can count on me."

"I know I can Nelson. You never let me down before. My ETA will be one hour to assemble our forces and meet and rally point Novus. Good luck Captain."

Wallace and Riker had a history dating back to the final year of the Human-Covenant war. Wallace was first stationed at planet Sanctum for his skills and ability's as a ship Captain. The two had never thought of each other as more than military officers until the battle of Sanctum. During the battle _Ace of Spades _had scored a kill on an enemy cruiser that was firing upon a human ship. That ship was Adm. Riker's vessel. A Marathon class cruiser the UNSC Valkyrie was the largest and most powerful ship stationed at the planet. Its destruction was only prevented by Wallace's intervention. After the battle Adm. Riker developed an immense amount of respect for this man under his command.

"Capt. I have something. It's a message from the unidentified fleet." Said the AI.

The message was in English and a read. _We mean you no harm. We are in desperate need of assistance. We wish to meet the commander of this ship._

There was a brief moments of silence before Wallace had decided what he had to do. "Joan prep a squad of Marines. Have two broadswords ready to act as an escort for a pelican."

Joan didn't seem thrilled that he was actually going to meet with these aliens face-to-face but she was programmed to follow his orders. "Captain I'm not sure if that's wise."

"Well we're dealing with a new race. One that isn't immediately hostile and they seem to need our help."

"They still have ships coming through and I've only scanned so much of their fleet. But I have noticed heavy damage on a significant number of their vessels, many of which have no detectable weapons systems."

"Then it settled. Lieut. Commander Lee you have my chair until I return."

Immediately after hearing this the second-in-command walked over to fill the captain's seat. "Eye sir."

He sat there with a smile thinking to himself._ Captain Rioichi Lee. That has a nice ring to it._

Shortly after his decision was made Capt. Wallace found himself in a pelican dropship surrounded by six Marines acting as his bodyguard. The dropship was flanked by two broadsword fighters acting as its escort. The pelican was en route to a ship in the center of this massive fleet. Joan was correct about a lot of these ships being damaged. Some had massive holes in them, others had more hull breaches than one could count, and some seem to be barely operable.

Over the pelicans com system the passengers could hear the pilots communicating with one another. "This is pelican Charlie 1-4 we are about to enter the unknown ship's hangar bay."

The broadswords responded with. "Roger that Charlie 1-4. Escort one is returning to _Ace of Spades."_

"Affirmative escort one, keep the beer cold for me. Charlie 1-4 out."

Wallace could only imagine what kind of race he was about to encounter. He also thought about Jones warning. _Maybe they are hostile and just want to lure me onto their ship so they can use me as leverage to get something they want from us. _These thoughts did not sway his decision as there was obvious evidence to the contrary. That and there was no way his inner desire for exploration would let him pass this up. Besides he was an officer of the UNSC Navy and he wasn't afraid of anything they might be able to do. The Marines he was with were tough as nails professionals with the latest in UNSC equipment. All six of them sported the new MA5D assault rifle. It was lightweight, carried a 32 round clip, and could survive the roughest battlefield conditions. This newer model was also more accurate and had a much higher stopping power than its predecessor the MA5C.

When the dropship entered the hangar everyone stood up with Capt. Wallace in the back. The pelican touchdown inside the hangar and the ramp began to lower. Four of the Marines piled out first with their weapons shouldered but aimed at the ground as not to appear hostile. The Captain walked down the ramp flank by the last two Marines. This was going to be first impressions so it had to be good.

By the time the Navy officer got a good look at his surroundings he realize that this ship wasn't crewed by one unknown race. It was three. One of these beings walked towards the humans and introduced herself in perfect English. "My name is Doctor Liara T'Soni. I will be acting as an ambassador for the races of the Citadel. Welcome aboard our ship the _Destiny Ascension._"

The human took a deep breath and approached her. "Capt. Nelson T. Wallace. My superior officer will be here shortly but until then I have been given the duty to act as a representative for the United Earth Government."

Liara nodded. "Please follow me. You may take two of your guards with you."

Wallace walked with the blue skinned alien while flanked by his two Marine bodyguards. As they were about to leave the hangar several armed guards began walking with them. Wallace didn't think anything of it as they were probably just the security. These aliens however were different from the one he just met. They had gray skin and the tops of their heads stretched back. They were slightly reminiscent of the Sangheili. Except these beings were human sized and not trying to kill them. Their weapons were also similar to those Wallace and his men were carrying. He couldn't help but think himself. _Looks like we might have a few things in common._

The ship's crew couldn't help but stare and watch as the three humans marched through the vessel. Wallace tried talking to Liara. "Dr T'Soni? What exactly is happening? In your message you said that you were driven from their home?"

The blue skin being kept walking forward and didn't look at the human when she replied. "You will be informed when we reach the ship's briefing room."

The room Wallace soon found himself in was smaller than expected. It had one table in the center of the room with a projector similar to that on his ship in the middle of it. There was a large wall of glass which separated it and the adjacent corridor. The two Marines had to wait outside as no bodyguards for either party were allowed inside. It was an understandable idea to try and establish a mutual trust.

There were three different aliens standing on the other side of the table from Wallace. One was of Liara's species. Another was the same as the ships armed guards. And the third was one whose kind he had only seen once in the hangar. It had smooth looking gray skin and large black eyes. The three were all wearing elegant robes implying that they were in a position of high political power.

The blue skinned being was the first to address the human in their presence. "We are the Citadel Council. We are the representatives of different species and their governments. I am counselor Tevos. Representative of the Asari race and Republics."

"I am counselor Quentius. Representative of the Turian race and Hierarchy."

"I am counselor Valern. Representative of the Salarian race and Union"

Wallace took note of who was what then proceeded as formally as possible. "My name is Capt. Nelson T. Wallace of the United Nations Space Command Navy. My immediate superior is on his way and until his arrival I am to act on behalf of the human race."

The three council members observe the human as if they were studying him. The silence was only broken after counselor Tevos began the talking. "Obviously you must be wondering what we are doing here with such a vast quantity of ships."

"I will admit that did cross my mind. Though I have noticed that many of your vessels are heavily damaged."

Wallace could tell that something was wrong by the expressions on Valern and Tevos faces. They were human enough for him to pick up on. Quentius could have been thinking anything as he was the most alien of the three in his opinion.

This time the Salarian spoke up. "We're not going to lie to you our situation is dire. We call ourselves the Citadel Council because it was the center of power in our galaxy."

That last bit caught Wallace off guard. "You're from another galaxy?"

"Yes. The device our ships are massed around is called a mass relay. In our galaxy there are a tremendous number of them scattered throughout space. They act as means of transportation between star systems. You can travel across the galaxy with incredible speed by use of them. From there we also discovered a place we refer to as the Citadel. It was a massive space stations we colonized and turned into a city."

Wallace didn't know what to think at this point other than just to try and find out more information. "Sounds like you were doing pretty well for yourselves than. What exactly happened?"

Being an obvious man of the military it was Quentus's turn to explain. "In our galaxy we waged a war with beings we call reapers. "

The counselor tapped a devise on his wrist and a projection appeared on the table in between them. "They are a race of sentient machines called the reapers. We don't know much about them except that they destroy and assimilate every organic species they encounter."

_Destroys and assimilates all organic life it encounters. _The human thought to himself. He didn't like the sound of it one bit. It reminded him too much of the flood.

Wallace stared at the image projected in front of them. "How did they drive you out of your home galaxy?"

The Asari councilmen answered instead. Despite not being able to see it on his face it was obvious that Quentus was feeling a mix of depression and Shame. Shame for losing what was probably the most important war in his races history and depression for losing his home to it. He wasn't always the leader of his people but he was always their voice in the galactic community and as such the face of his species.

"We fought them as hard as we could but they were simply too powerful. They have weapons that can destroy a ship in one strike, their shields can withstand tremendous attack, and their armor from the outside is all but impenetrable. They can also move in three dimensions and their faster than light capabilities beyond anything we have. One planet and battle after another they kept pushing us back. We did however find what we still hope is an escape. It was a chain of mass relays starting from the edge of our galaxy all the way across empty space to our current location."

A little over 30 years ago if somebody had told the UNSC that they would face an enemy such as this they wouldn't have believed it. And if they did believe it that would've been terrifying of them. But after over a quarter century of war with the Covenant the thought of this new enemy didn't even make Wallace flinch. He decided however that he would wait to tell them about humanity's war with the Covenant until Adm. Riker was present. But something had just occurred to him. If they used this chain of relays to make it into the Milky Way galaxy than the reapers could have to. "Is it possible that you were followed here in the reapers know where we are?"

"We cannot say with any certainty that the reapers won't find a way here but we have taken steps to cover our tracks. The mass relays much like the reapers are all but indestructible except the one we used to start our voyage here emitted a signal containing an encryption for its self-destruct."

_Best case scenario the reapers no longer have the capability to threaten the species of the Milky Way galaxy or the surviving Citadel races. Worst-case scenario this only stalled the reapers and they were on their way. At least a massive call for reinforcements had just been made and even if they actually were coming they had time to fortify the system as it was the only place in this galaxy they could invade from using their best means of transportation. _The Captain thought to himself.

The meeting went on for some time until they received word that Adm. Riker's task force had reached Novus. The briefing room was on an outer deck and from the window the four could see the large inky black rings opening with 30 human ships passing through. Immediately after his arrival Riker made a request for the Council and Wallace to come aboard his ship for a more formal meeting. The Council agreed and prepared for the negotiations that would determine their fate in this new galaxy.

Wallace and the Marines boarded the pelican they had used to visit the Citadel ship while the Council and their bodyguards did the same with one of their transports. It was a rectangular shaped spacecraft they called the Kodiak drop shuttle.

Both ships were heading straight for the UNSC Valkyrie through the void of space between the two fleets. Wallace sat in a seat close to the cockpit while he listened to the Marines conversation. "Did you notice how those blue aliens looked like us? Except…. you know the blue skin and…. no hair."

"Yeah I think one of them was given me the looks."

That Marine in particular got a hard punch in the arm by the man sitting next to him who spoke sounding like an older brother. "Mark shut the fuck up. Do you really want to be having sex with an alien?"

"I don't know man I like the way she was looking at me."

The conversation then shifted to. "Those guys are nothing like the Covenant I could have taken on that whole ship by myself."

"They all looked demoralized as of something had taken the fight right out of them."

"Well they better not try starting any shit with us or their goanna gets the biggest ass whopping of their lives."

Wallace couldn't help but smile at the young Marines in the dropship. Some of them have seen combat against the Covenant Remnant and even the former Covenant Empire. This would have left many soldiers to lose their sense of humor or to become hardened killing machines. Wallace thought it was actually really nice that they had retained their youth despite the battles fought.

Both transport ships eventually docked on board the UNSC _Valkyrie _where Adm. Riker greeted the Citadel Council on behalf of the United Earth Government. Much like before the group made their way to the ships briefing room except this time for the real negotiations. The crew of the _Valkyrie _gave the counselors and their guards a very different kind of stair. It was a kind filled with distrust, a desire for solace, and even hatred. However the crew knew better than to start a fight and never did more than stair. Unlike the _Destiny Ascention _the meeting area on the _Valkyrie _didn't skimp on the decoration. Inside looked like Oden's Hall with portraits of the angelic beings and even a display of a replica Norse armor set. Those already inside the room were Dr. Hansen and the Governor of Novus, Joshua Rhodes. Hansen was there most likely because he would've raised hell if Riker didn't let him meet these new beings himself as soon as possible. Rhodes presence on the other hand was somewhat more a mystery.

Like before there were no guards at either party allowed inside the room. It was only the representatives of the UEG and the Citadel. After everyone was formally introduced the discussion began with the counselors explaining everything they had already told Wallace. How they got here, where they came from, what happened and there galaxy, and why they're here now. After they finished explaining the room became quiet until Riker finally figured out what to say. It was in a calm tired voice. "If you didn't discovered this chain of relays that brought you here then it would only have been a matter of time before the reapers did. They would've become our problem sooner or later. At least this way we had time to prepare and bolster our defensive position."

There was another thing Riker needed to know. These aliens were people and he couldn't just sentence them to their deaths so he had to know what he was dealing with. His tone became very serious. "How many ships and people did you bring to the system?"

Counselor Valern to the deep breath before answering. "We have a rough estimates of 90,000 ships carrying 80,000,000 people"

Riker nodded to Gov. Rhodes as it was his turn to talk. "My name is Gov. Joshua Rhodes of the Novus colony. I am responsible for overseeing the development of the planet below as well as the settlements on it. Novus is a very large world with entire continents that have not been settled yet. I'm willing to allow your people to settle on my planet in exchange for your complete cooperation."

The negotiations went on for a few more hours as they discussed matters of the Human-Covenant war, the Forerunners, possible exchanges of technology, potential alliances, ect. In the end it was decided that the Citadel races would be allowed to settle on planet Novus's largest continent. It was called the Wiete territory. The continent was a perfect choice as it was a highly fertile place with plenty of room for farming and real estate with more than enough space for the surviving Citadel races. Best of all it was only connected to the other continents with established human populations by two land bridges. However something that was made very clear to them was that this was not there world and that they were only being allowed to borrow the land because of their situation. They would not be allowed to disturb the human population and the surrounding territories or conduct any large-scale activities without consent of Gov. Rhodes or Adm. Riker.

Within an hour after an agreement was reached the alien ships began landing on the planet to begin settling their new home under USNC protection.


End file.
